Masters in Digital/Online Marketing

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Digital Marketing Master's Degree (M.A.) in Germany

What is digital marketing? And why is it important?

In many sectors, digital marketing is no longer just window dressing for traditional marketing but has become part of the strategic direction – particularly for globally operating companies in almost all sectors of the economy. As the diversity of digital media increases, there is a contemporaneous need in middle and upper management for experts who master both individual disciplines while also bringing management and leadership qualities to the table.

The English-language Master’s in Digital Marketing at CBS International Business School enables you to pursue a career filled with opportunities thanks to general and profound knowledge and well-trained soft skills.

Why study a digital marketing course in Germany?

Choosing to study digital marketing in Germany is a smart move due to the country’s exceptionally high educational standards. Studying for the Master’s in Digital Marketing at CBS International Business School means immersing yourself in a stunning, historical cities which boasts outstanding international connections. With its forward-thinking, global approach and strong corporate connections, CBS’ Master’s in Digital Marketing combines a first-class German education with practical, real-world applicability arguably making it the best digital marketing course in Germany.

From Strategy to Storytelling - What do you learn in an online marketing course?

How do you develop an online marketing strategy that works both internationally and across multiple channels and media? The Digital Marketing Master`s courses “Digital Storytelling” and “Digital Strategy Development” will provide you with the answers to these questions. Here you will learn about the various techniques and tools of online marketing. These include storytelling, website optimisation, search engine marketing, conversion optimisation, and marketing analytics.

You will gain a deeper insight in the seminar “Digital Content Creation”, which awaits you in the second semester.

Digital Marketing Master's at a glance

ECTS 120
Semester 4
Language English
Type of Study Full-time
Degree Master of Arts
Campus Cologne
Internship Integrated
Semester Abroad Optional

Start of Studies Cologne Winter
Study Fees Cologne* 5.490€

*The displayed prices are semester fees. For non-EU students' fees please check the tuition fees information page. Status: March 2021.

Study Course Plan

Please find the course overview per semester of the Master programme in Digital Marketing below:

General business teaching units

Business Economics3 ECTS

Demand analysis & estimating demand
Supply and market equilibrium
Production economics
Cost analysis
Estimating cost functions and production functions
Economies of scale
Prices, output and strategy in different markets
Game theory models of oligopoly
Pricing techniques and analysis
Government regulation

Empirical Research Methods3 ECTS

Quantitative and qualitative methods
Development of a research question
Steps of research process
Methods of data collection
Sampling
Data analysis using statistical software programs (SPSS or R)
Writing a research report

Strategic Analysis & Management3 ECTS

Strategy making process and strategic reasoning
Cultural and institutional context of strategic management
Network-level strategies
Corporate development and configuration
Strategic change and corporate restructuring
Strategy evaluation and strategic controls

Innovation Management & Digital Transformation3 ECTS

Dynamics of innovation & their implications for change management
Individual creativity and invention
Corporate creativity & intrapreneuring
Technology management
Innovation and technology strategies
Managing innovations
Diffusion of innovations
Cultural differences in innovation capability
Contemporary trends in innovation management

Programme specific teaching units

Digital Marketing and Modern Growth Concepts3 ECTS

Introduction to Digital Marketing and Modern Growth Concepts
Demand Generation vs. Demand Capturing
Digital marketing and its scope and importance
Key components and objectives of a digital marketing
Growth and its relevance for digital businesses
Different growth models (plg, slg, molg) and their advantages and disadvantages
Key factors and challenges that influence digital marketing and growth performance
Characteristics and functions of various digital platforms and channels
Importance and purpose of measuring and optimizing digital marketing
Tools and techniques for digital marketing objective and target markets
Evaluating the principles of growth hacking and experimentation
Potential risks and challenges of digital marketing practices

Advanced Brand Management3 ECTS

Brand and brand management and their scope and importance
Key components and objectives of a brand strategy
Brand identity system and the elements of brand identity
The concept and methods of brand positioning
The concept of brand equity and the factors that influence brand equity
Brand strategies and tactics
Brand extension, brand portfolio management,
Brand architecture and brand hierarchy
Brand co-creation and brand communication
Importance and purpose of measuring and evaluating brand performance
Challenges and opportunities that brands face in the digital era
Potential risks and threats, such as brand dilution, brand erosion, brand imitation, brand crisis

Search Engine Marketing3 ECTS

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search Engine Advertising (SEA)
Content Marketing
Content Management Systems (CMS)
E-Mail-Marketing
Web Analytics Tool: Google Analytics

Social Media Marketing and Monitoring3 ECTS

Digital Marketing fundamentals
Social Media Marketing fundamentals
Influencer Marketing
Creating a digitally connected brand (brand core, brand space, brand persona)
Opinion formation/ expression
Social Media Monitoring fundamentals
Importance of channel choice
Identifying indices, metrics, and KPIs
Monitoring and analyzing brand reputation
Data privacy and ethics
Social Media Monitoring/ Digital Customer Intelligence tool: Brandwatch
Social Media Marketing and Management tool: HootSuite.

Interdisciplinary competencies

Advanced Negotiation & Influencing Skill2 ECTS

Positional and principal negotiations – advanced strategies and tactics
Identifying the opponent’s negotiation profile
Understanding the personal negotiation profile and preferences
General persuasion techniques
Negotiation maneuvers and tactics for advanced players
Techniques for opponent engagment
Managing emotions and self- programming for defending your point of view
Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion

Language & Communication Skills2 ECTS

The “Scholarly Writing and Analysis” course is offered for German native speakers. German as a foreign language is offered as an obligatory course for Non-native German speakers.

General business teaching units

Corporate Social Responsibility3 ECTS

Cornerstones of sustainable management
CSR as management approach
Practical approaches of organizational effectiveness
Tools for CSR implementation
CSR and financial performance
Life cycle assessment

Corporate Governance3 ECTS

Historical developments around the world
Directors and board structures in different parts of the world
Family business governance
Role of institutional investors
Corporate governance in mergers and acquisitions
Socially responsible investments
Corporate governance in different regions

Value Based Management3 ECTS

Financial measurement of corporate strategies: the principles
Traditional value-based systems and their link with financial models
Cash flow return on investments (CFROI)
Customer life-time value
Corporate financial & compensation design

Sustainable Supply Chain Management3 ECTS

Defining a sustainable supply chain
Discussion of various theoretical concepts and their implications for sustainable supply chain management
Green marketing
Green logistics

Programme specific teaching units

Customer Conversion and Retention3 ECTS

Introduction to customer conversion and retention
Customer lifecycle management: stages, metrics, and tools
Customer acquisition, conversion and retention: strategies, channels, and metrics
Customer value and loyalty
Referrals and word-of-mouth
Segmentation and customer cohorts
Loyalty programs
customer surveys, reviews and ratings
Customer conversion and retention in e-commerce and SaaS
Customer conversion and retention trends: current and future developments

Monetization and Pricing in Digital Marketing 3 ECTS

Introduction to monetization and pricing: definitions, concepts, and frameworks
Value-based pricing vs. cost-based and competition-based approaches
Revenue models and price models
Value proposition and value drivers
Foundational elements of pricing psychology
Deriving willingness to pay: approaches and methods
Pricing in different digital contexts
Pricing for Saas, platforms, B2C and B2B digital products
Implications of freemium/free offers
Usage-based pricing vs. subscription
Dynamic pricing
Pricing challenges and pitfalls: competition, cannibalization, price sensitivity, etc.
Price implementation and enforcement
Monetization and pricing best practices and case studies

Business Project6 ECTS

The overall objective of this course is to provide students with possibility of applying their business knowledge on concrete business situation, related to the field of their specialization.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

Define project goals for the “client”.
Work under the set timeframe and agreed project scope.
Cooperate in the international project teams.
Evaluate markets/ industries/ competitive landscapes.
Develop possible strategic directions for the “client” business.
Formulate recommendations.

Elective area

Business Elective3 ECTS

By choosing Business Electives in the second and third semester you can personalize your degree course and extend your management knowledge. The following are examples of the types of courses on offer. Typically you have the choice between two or three different electives:

Digital Leadership
Consulting Techniques
Strategic Renewal & Digital Business Models
International Risk Management
Portfolio Management
Entrepreneurship Capstone Course

Interdisciplinary Elective3 ECTS

By choosing Interdisciplinary Electives in the second and third semester you can personalize your degree course and extend your management knowledge. The Interdisciplinary Electives usually include subjects like. Typically you have the choice between two or three different electives:

App Conception
Blockchain Business Management
Cultures of Consumption
Future Scenarios for Sustainable Business Solutions
Game Development and Production
Intercultural Aspects of Ethics in Business
International Competitiveness
International Trade and Emerging Markets

Interdisciplinary competencies

Emotional Intelligence 2 ECTS

Different Inteligencies – IQ vs EQ
The role of emotions – daily and work life
The construct of Emotional intelligence
Emotionally intelligent competencies & skills
Skills acquisition – Experiential/action learning
Reflection & reflexion
Encouraging engagement
Developing trust

General business teaching units

Business Simulation Game3 ECTS

In a business simulation game participants have to manage their own virtual company which operates in the same market as other participant-operated competitors. This involves making typical management decisions in realistic environments. Beside the deepening and active examination of subject-specific knowledge the simulation games also include the team environment, where interaction, communication and prioritization are of paramount importance. Participants learn how to manage risk and uncertainty while time is limited and information constrained. Group-reflections help to take over different perspectives and to discuss pros and cons of content- as well as behavior-related actions.

Integrative Case Studies3 ECTS

Focused review of the curriculum content
Pre-assessment quiz/ content area assessment as benchmark for students’ status quo
Guide and Strategic Plan to Case Study Analysis
Writing a proper Case Study Analysis report
Developing proper answers to Case questions, applying the relevant theoretical knowledge and frameworks
In-depth Case Study Analysis with focus all subject areas of the curriculum
In-depth Case Study Analysis with special focus on Strategic Management

Venture Lab4 ECTS

Discovering and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities
Developing business ideas from opportunities (e.g. based on using Design Thinking, Personas and User Stories)
Feasibility analysis of business ideas
Transferring the idea into a Business Model
Business Model and its building blocks (value proposition, customers segments, channels, customer relationships, revenue model, key partners, key activities, key resources, cost structure)
Business Plan: Introduction, Sample Case and General Outline
Developing the details of the business plan
Finding sources of financing: Business angels; Private equity; Start up financing; Venture capital investors
Preparing a pitch deck for successfully presenting the new venture business plan

Programme specific teaching units

Content Creation and Storytelling 3 ECTS

Introduction: Crossmedia versus transmedia management, journalism, media channels, business models for storytelling
Extended Reality/ XR: Augmented Reality/ AR, Virtual Reality/ VR, Mixed Reality/ MR
Ethics for publishers and sustainability of media use
Transmedia trends integrating Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, games, and social media channels
Content creation using Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva software
Content creation in times of Artificial Intelligence
How to build a character, conflict, and drama
The 3-act model
Writing short stories
Publishing stories
Story building for social media
Storytelling in marketing
Multiplicity and cultural representation in transmedia storytelling
Understanding and producing the orchestration of media

Omni-Channel Commerce3 ECTS

Internet trends
Semantic Web & semantic search enabling visual and voice search
Web 3.0 building on AI and blockchain technology
Big/ smart data
Characteristics of electronic markets
Internet start-ups
E-Commerce business and revenue models
Social commerce
Mobile commerce
E-commerce turnkey solutions
Building an e-commerce presence
The AI-powered organization
Industry 4.0
Content marketing
Measuring content marketing performance using Web analytics tools
E-commerce laws
Potential of blockchain to reduce digital marketing challenges
The metaverse as environment for business
Outlook on advertising in the metaverse
Digital strategy development
Cross-channel, multi-channel and omni-channel management
Data privacy and security

Data-driven and AI-based Marketing Approaches3 ECTS

Data-driven marketing fundamentals
Marketing automation (Salesforce tools)
Agile marketing fundamentals
Introduction to big data
Machine learning and deep learning fundamentals
AI in a business and marketing context
Data collection and management
Evaluating content success
Data storytelling
Future marketing measures

Marketing and Innovative Technologies3 ECTS

Future of digitalization and digital marketing
History of innovations and insights for future innovations
Ethical reflection on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality
Sustainable innovations
Silicon Valley DNA: Create innovations with Design Thinking
Using artificial intelligence for digital marketing
Writing artificial intelligence prompts
Innovation podcasts with expert interviews and social media posts
Extended reality: AR and VR in digital marketing

Advanced Digital Marketing Techniques and Tools 2 ECTS

SEM approaches and tools
Google Analytics theory & practice
Google Ads theory & practice
Google Ads Keyword Planner
XOVI SEO Tool
Several freemium SEO tools
Google Search Console

Master Thesis Tutorial2 ECTS

During the Master Thesis Tutorial you will learn the fundamentals for your Master thesis: Defining the topic as well as structuring the thesis and you will learn the theoretical knowledge for scientific working.

Elective area

Business Elective3 ECTS

Digital Leadership
Consulting Techniques
Strategic Renewal & Digital Business Models
International Risk Management
Portfolio Management
Entrepreneurship Capstone Course

Interdisciplinary Elective3 ECTS

App Conception
Blockchain Business Management
Cultures of Consumption
Future Scenarios for Sustainable Business Solutions
Game Development and Production
Intercultural Aspects of Ethics in Business
International Competitiveness
International Trade and Emerging Markets

Programme specific teaching units

Master Thesis24 ECTS

During your 4th semester you are working on your Master thesis. You have 19 weeks to complete your thesis and the subject is freely selectable. A supervisor from CBS will support you and you can write the thesis in collaboration with a company as well. Or you can write your thesis in connection with a stay abroad.

Internship10 ECTS

After the internship you have a deep understanding for the study-related business world and knowledge in the chosen working area. The internship has to last at least 7 weeks full-time (approx. 35 - 40 hours per week). The internship must be related to the field of studies - Digital Marketing - and needs to be approved by the CBS beforehand.

An internship (10 ECTS) in Germany or abroad is integral part of your degree. Our Career Service is happy to support you in finding the perfect company.

Focus on Social-Media

In the Digital Marketing Master`s programme at CBS you will learn how you can use Facebook, Instagram and Co. to plan campaigns that reach exactly the right users. Successful social media strategies require not only effective messages, but also the ability to place them on the right channels and keep an eye on the results. Learning how to manage and monitor various social media outlets is just as much a part of the Digital Marketing Master’s programme as gaining in-depth knowledge of influencer marketing. Use your knowledge in these key areas to build up a decisive competitive advantage and learn how to use large advertising budgets in a targeted manner.

Achieving Key Performance Indicators with the Marketing Master`s Degree

Targeting and big data are two keywords that come to mind when it comes to placing advertising messages in a targeted manner. In order to measure success, it is important to set meaningful goals and ultimately achieve them with well thought-out campaigns. You will learn how this works in the second and third semesters, among other things, during these courses:

Omnichannel Commerce
Big Data and Cloud Management
Media Planning
Social Media Monitoring
Online and Social Media Management

Study digital marketing in Germany – in English!

CBS’ Master’s in Digital Marketing is taught in English and with business English also on the agenda, you will achieve mastery of both international business vocabulary and industry-specific nomenclature. This will prove particularly useful since almost all digital innovations and trends emerge from the USA. In addition to English, you will also learn another foreign language to further bolster your skillset.

Apply your online marketing knowledge to real-life situation

Managers in digital marketing need solid business management skills to make economically viable decisions. These are taught in the Digital Marketing Master`s programme.

With a Master’s in Digital Marketing at CBS, you can apply your freshly acquired expertise in a business project or see how you measure up with others in a business simulation game. Alternatively, you can gain insight into the real digital economy during an eight-week-minimum internship. In the fourth semester, you can also gain practical experience for your master’s thesis, optionally within the framework of a corporate project. Alternatively, it is also possible to write your master’s thesis during a semester abroad. Maybe in California?

Build up your expertise with a graduate degree

Discover the CBS by joining our Online Information Sessions or Trial Lectures

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Online Marketing career path - What are the job opportunities?

With a Master’s in Digital Marketing from CBS, you will become an expert in how to integrate digital media into the various marketing processes. This makes you incredibly employable with regards to management positions in both operative and strategic marketing in the following:

International corporations
Content providers and agencies
Ad-tech companies
Media agencies
Or perhaps through starting your own business as an entrepreneur

In the case of the latter, the media management faculty will support you in cooperation with the entrepreneurship chair at CBS and the Hochschulgründernetz Cologne (hgnc).

What are the requirements for a Master’s Degree in Online Marketing at CBS?

For admission into the Master’s in Online Marketing, you need a Bachelor’s degree, including 30 credits relating to the field of business administration, and advanced English language skills.

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